AP/MIAMI HERALD/ Do statistics lie? Contrary to what many natives and tourists feel, Mexico's homicide rate is actually LOWER than a decade ago. The rate has fallen steadily from a high in 1997 of 17 per 100,000 people to 14 per 100,000 in 2009. Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala all sport homicide rates of between 40 and 60 per 100,000 people, while Colombia was close with 33 per 100,000 in 2008. Brazil's was 24 in 2006. The popular image of Mexico's violence is more shocking than elsewhere because the drug gangs use such extreme measures as beheading and massacres to intimidate the government and rivals.
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